Year in school: Graduated UCLA December 2016 (Went to UC Davis for a year, decided to transfer, attended community college my sophomore year to get all my GE's and save money, transferred to UCLA my junior year)
Country/state of residence: CA
Major/GPA: BS in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, cGPA: 3.85 sGPa: 3.82 (my major was one of the most difficult science majors you can take at UCLA, so hopefully they take that into account when considering my GPA)
MCAT Scores: 519 (130/130/129/130). Studied for the MCAT while also working part-time.
Research – Currently working full-time as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Technician at a Psychiatrist's office (~300 hours so far, 50-60 hours/week). Working on a publication and have attended a national conference to present the poster of our research. Also worked on isolating a novel phage and annotating it's genome as part of my research-centered major (wrote a research proposal, isolated the phage in wet lab, wrote a research paper, designed a poster and a 30 minute presentation as a 4-person team). The end result was submitted to a database called PhagesDB.
Volunteering (clinical) – Around 300 hours as a Clinical Care Extender at a hospital in downtown LA. Very hands on with patient care (took vitals, gave bed baths, changed bedpans, helped prepare deceased patients for the morgue, fed and ambulated patients, etc.)
Non-clinical volunteering: I participated in a panhellenic sorority (Alpha Phi) my freshman year at UC Davis and joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi (a jewish-interest sorority) once I transferred to UCLA. Community service was a part of both of these organizations.
Extracurricular activities: I value physical fitness and have participated in multiple 5k's and am currently working on mastering some calisthenics. I have also been skiing since I was 4 years old and recently passed the ski patrol ski test when I was considering applying for a job at Big Bear.
Employment history: Worked as a private tutor specializing in students with ADHD for 4 years and then spent 1 year as a tutor for a company in LA. Also worked as a Lifeguard for 4 summers and spent a year working at a local toy store when I was in community college. Worked as an Administrative Assistant part-time for 4 months before being promoted to technician at my current job.
Strong LORs from the psychiatrist I work for currently and the professor of my research class. I also have LORs from my Swedish Film professor, a Microbiology professor, and my clinical care extender program.
Here is my school list so far:
U Chicago
U Penn
NYU
Vanderbilt
Columbia
Sinai
Cornell
Northwestern
Harvard
Yale
JHU
U VA
Stanford
UCSD
Case
U MI
Ohio State
Albert Einstein
Emory
Boston University
Dartmouth
Duke
Pitt
Hofstra
UCLA
UCSF
USC
Warren Alpert
Saint Louis
Tufts
Mayo
Lewis Katz
Georgetown
George Washington
UC Irvine
UC Davis
Miami
Tulane
UC Riverside
Wright
U AZ
Sidney Kimmel
Quinnipiac
New York Medical College
Drexel
Albany
I am hoping to get into a school in California, so those are my top choices. I'm trying to see if there are any schools I can cut from the list to make secondaries a little more manageable. If you guys could also help me in deciding which school would be reach, within my range, and "safety" (even though that doesn't really exist) that would be super helpful too!
Country/state of residence: CA
Major/GPA: BS in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, cGPA: 3.85 sGPa: 3.82 (my major was one of the most difficult science majors you can take at UCLA, so hopefully they take that into account when considering my GPA)
MCAT Scores: 519 (130/130/129/130). Studied for the MCAT while also working part-time.
Research – Currently working full-time as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Technician at a Psychiatrist's office (~300 hours so far, 50-60 hours/week). Working on a publication and have attended a national conference to present the poster of our research. Also worked on isolating a novel phage and annotating it's genome as part of my research-centered major (wrote a research proposal, isolated the phage in wet lab, wrote a research paper, designed a poster and a 30 minute presentation as a 4-person team). The end result was submitted to a database called PhagesDB.
Volunteering (clinical) – Around 300 hours as a Clinical Care Extender at a hospital in downtown LA. Very hands on with patient care (took vitals, gave bed baths, changed bedpans, helped prepare deceased patients for the morgue, fed and ambulated patients, etc.)
Non-clinical volunteering: I participated in a panhellenic sorority (Alpha Phi) my freshman year at UC Davis and joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi (a jewish-interest sorority) once I transferred to UCLA. Community service was a part of both of these organizations.
Extracurricular activities: I value physical fitness and have participated in multiple 5k's and am currently working on mastering some calisthenics. I have also been skiing since I was 4 years old and recently passed the ski patrol ski test when I was considering applying for a job at Big Bear.
Employment history: Worked as a private tutor specializing in students with ADHD for 4 years and then spent 1 year as a tutor for a company in LA. Also worked as a Lifeguard for 4 summers and spent a year working at a local toy store when I was in community college. Worked as an Administrative Assistant part-time for 4 months before being promoted to technician at my current job.
Strong LORs from the psychiatrist I work for currently and the professor of my research class. I also have LORs from my Swedish Film professor, a Microbiology professor, and my clinical care extender program.
Here is my school list so far:
U Chicago
U Penn
NYU
Vanderbilt
Columbia
Sinai
Cornell
Northwestern
Harvard
Yale
JHU
U VA
Stanford
UCSD
Case
U MI
Ohio State
Albert Einstein
Emory
Boston University
Dartmouth
Duke
Pitt
Hofstra
UCLA
UCSF
USC
Warren Alpert
Saint Louis
Tufts
Mayo
Lewis Katz
Georgetown
George Washington
UC Irvine
UC Davis
Miami
Tulane
UC Riverside
Wright
U AZ
Sidney Kimmel
Quinnipiac
New York Medical College
Drexel
Albany
I am hoping to get into a school in California, so those are my top choices. I'm trying to see if there are any schools I can cut from the list to make secondaries a little more manageable. If you guys could also help me in deciding which school would be reach, within my range, and "safety" (even though that doesn't really exist) that would be super helpful too!
